Running Away

Chapter 5

"Ora sei arrivato a Firenze, in Italia. L'ora locale è 17:34. Grazie per aver volato con KLM. Ci auguriamo che ti piaccia il tuo soggiorno." (Translation: You have now arrived in Florence, Italy. The local time is 5:34 PM. Thank you for flying KLM. We hope you enjoy your stay.)

Sera gave a big stretch as she stood up from her seat for the first time in almost ten hours. She always hated flying and her body would always react poorly to the flying process with either motion sickness or altitude sickness, sometimes even both.

It took almost an hour before Sera and Bryan were able to clear through customs, and there was an additional hour in baggage claim. By the time they got into their hotel suite, Sera was feeling jet-lagged, hungry, nauseous and exhausted. It was a familiar faint feeling that she had in the past.

She took a hot shower and stepped out of the bathroom in a plush, white robe. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, "Have you seen the room service menu? I'm starving."

"Why would you need that? We are going out. I saw this restaurant on google that is known for having the freshest seafood."

Sera shook her head, "Oh, Bryan. Please no. Can we try them tomorrow? I don't feel that good."

"I didn't come all the way to Italy to be cooped up in here. We need to experience Florence!"

"And I agree, just not tonight. We can go tomorrow, please?"

"No way, Sera. That's not fair. All I'm asking for is for dinner with my fiancée, too much to ask?"

"Of course not, it's just that I feel sick from flying."

"Sera, get dressed so we can go. I can't believe we are even having this discussion. If you stay behind, I'm not going to leave any of my cards behind."

"Are you serious?"

"Get dressed so we can go, Sera."

Begrudgingly, Sera changed into a simple turtle-necked dress, and put on big square glasses to hide her fatigued face. The ride over the restaurant was spent with Bryan chatting away with the Uber driver and Sera doing her best to stay awake, she had no clue how he had so much energy and why he was making her suffering worse.

The restaurant was packed, dark and hot from all the body heat. Sera was disgusted, it was the opposite of how she imagined her night ending. As she looked around she heavily questioned why Bryan insisted on bringing them to such a place.

There were no booths available, so they had to go into the self-seating portion of the restaurant's bar that was practically standing room only. Sera was pounding down waters trying to stay present.

After some time, the heat and hunger got to her and she felt like she was going to become ill. Quickly pushing past the crowd, she barely made it to the bathroom before she began to lose balance. She leaned against the wall and slumped down, on the cusp of fainting.

Suddenly, as Sera drifted in and out of consciousness, she felt strong arms lift her off the ground. The cool night air hit her in the face as she finally blacked out.